I've been wondering about this for really long time.

As you see,USA is the first place to have internet.
But it is somehow weird that webcomic isn't popular. Maybe I'm bit wrong about this but I never really saw any really popular webcomic and I think there are good comic here but no one really care about them.

I know I might be annoying but it just popped out of my head again because of latest release of a Korean movie, "Moss", Which is based on Webcomic. It's gaining huge sucess unlike other webcomic-based movie like "Idiot", "Love Comic" and ect. One thing is that the director is someone like steven Spielburg of Korea (Woo-Sueok Kang) known as the '30 million Miracle'(consider the fact that there are 50 million people in Korea).

A lot of critics say the movie is well-made. Of course it's not as good as the original one,It's still thrilling a must-see movie.

I tried to watch but it's 19+...darn.

Here's the trailer of the movie and a poster









The point is, WHY ISN'T WEBCOMIC POPULAR IN OTHER COUNTRY!
I thought about this a long time and I still doesn't get the reason.
Webcomic have already taken over paper comic in Korea and USA have a lot of talented artist and stry writer. There's no reason that Webcomic can't be popular.
Can anyone tell me any reason why webcomic is not popular in other countries?

Oh this is simple. Webcomics aren't popular just like comics aren't popular. Manga is popular in Korea and by extension web-manga becomes popular enough to enter mainstream media.

The only way a comics can be popular enough in the USA to get a blockbuster movie, is if it's superhero comics, where the plot doesn't matter only the character. And by extension, that means no indie comics becoming popular. The Korean manga "Moss", for example, I'm sure wasn't created and published under the editing heels of some stupid and unhealthy corporation that thought One More Day is a good idea.

It's like asking why Soccer/Football is not very competitive in the USA, despite the country having a spacious land mass and pleasant outdoor weather.

Webcomics are actually pretty damn popular.

Cowboys vs Aliens is getting its own movie. And it originated on this site. It's pretty damn big too for it has Harrison Ford as the protagonist.

If you want a popular webcomic then go to Penny Arcade, they've had tens of millions of hits. Or VgCats. Or Axecop. Or Blip. Or Allan. You probably haven't been looking that hard to find the bigger webcomics.

Yes, webcomics are pretty popular...depending on who you ask. You go to Comic-Con and ask anyone there what Penny Arcade or Megatokyo were (at least, the Megatokyo from five years ago), and I doubt you could find a single person who didn't know what they were. However, if you were to ask any Joe Schmo on the street, you'll find quite a lot of people who've never heard of them. The fact is, webcomics in general haven't reached that stage of being mainstream yet. A lot people outside the community of comics haven't even heard of webcomics, much less be able to name one. In Asian countries like Japan and Korea, comics seem to be something that are enjoyed by everyone, young and old. Over here, unfortunately that just isn't the case. It is a pretty big step up for them to be making a Cowboys vs. Aliens movie, though.

mlai
Oh this is simple. Webcomics aren't popular just like comics aren't popular. Manga is popular in Korea and by extension web-manga becomes popular enough to enter mainstream media.

The only way a comics can be popular enough in the USA to get a blockbuster movie, is if it's superhero comics, where the plot doesn't matter only the character. And by extension, that means no indie comics becoming popular. The Korean manga "Moss", for example, I'm sure wasn't created and published under the editing heels of some stupid and unhealthy corporation that thought One More Day is a good idea.

It's like asking why Soccer/Football is not very competitive in the USA, despite the country having a spacious land mass and pleasant outdoor weather.

A lot of this is incredibly untrue. Comics and Webcomics are immensely popular. Think about how many people are members of this site and similar sites. Think of all the independently hosted webcomics out there, and all the people that are on the forums, not to mention those who simply read the comic. Comics in general are arguably facing its greatest popularity in 20 years.
As for comics being turned into movies, there are plenty of non-superhero/indie comic book movies. Allow me to begin:
A History of Violence
Ghost World
Persepolis (yeah, it's French but was pretty successful in America)
Scott Pilgrim
Tank Girl (we try to forget about it, but it existed)
American Splendor
And according to Jeff Smith, serious movement towards a Bone movie is happening.
So plenty of Indie comic movies have been made. Sure super-hero movies are more popular, but that's probably just because they make much better summer blockbusters than anything Dan Clowes has put together.

If anything is really holding back webcomics as a respected form, it's simply that comics has never really found it's proper place in America (despite essentially being invented here). In it's history comics have sort of just sat on a fence between the visual and the literary. It wasn't until recent years that comics had a place in the typical bookstore and a gallery showing comic pieces still has that air of "folk" art. Pretty much the entire history of comics in America has been based on some form of controversy.
So when America doesn't know how it really feels about professional print comics, it's not going to embrace the overwhelmingly amateur world of web-comics. That is not to say however that there are not popular as well as strong webcomics, such as Penny Arcade or Girl Genius.

Webcomics themselves are still greatly in their infancy, as they are still widely print style comics in digital form. There is however movement in comics towards creating work that embracing web technology, look up Scott McCloud and his infinite canvas idea it's really impressive.

I'd also like to note that we shouldn't be measuring the value of comics in our country by how often it gets turned into a movie. That'd be a grave mistake. The comic is it's own medium, not some intermediary between painting and motion pictures. There are things you can do with comics that you could never do with movies, and many artists embrace this. I mean, you could not translate Chris Ware's "Jimmy Corrigan: Smartest Kid on Earth" into a movie without losing something incredibly precious to its original creation.

MicMit
I mean, you could not translate Chris Ware's "Jimmy Corrigan: Smartest Kid on Earth" into a movie without losing something incredibly precious to its original creation.

Well, one COULD say that Seth MacFarlane sort of beat 'em to the punch. *ahem*

Um...
By the way, I'll give you a little hint how popular webcomic is

Just grab anyone in Korea who's likly to have used the internet
And ask "Do you read webcomic(Webtoon) ?

You'll pretty much hear "Yes" from anyone
{Teens and young adults(old people hate comic becasue they think it lower student's grade.One of the brain wash from military dictadors who made stupid censor for comic Ex)don't draw blade, A fight scence should last less than 3 pages, All north Korean should look ugly)}

Okay, yeah, in KOREA. Korea and the U.S. are completely different, culturally speaking. Like I said, comics have long been loved by most everyone, no matter the demographic, in countries like Korea and Japan. The point I made earlier was that that's just not the case over here. Sure, you'll probably never find an American who's never heard of Superman or Batman, but that doesn't mean that they're all fans of the comics.

webcomics are popular in the US...but not to the extent of established paper comics like spiderman or batman.
I like to think popularity around the net comes down to money and how well a person can sell themselves to the online community. Unfortunately, the online community doesn't necessarily reflect a bulk of the offline.
Most people in the US who use the net, use it only for the big names, like youtube, facebook, myspace, imdb and wikipedia to name a few.
Not for webcomics.

I agree that webcomics in America are more of a niche than they are super mainstream.

I do wonder if part of the lack of exposure in other formats (TV, film) is because of the TYPES of comics and webcomics Americans read. Comics in the US typically fall under superhero genre or the "funnies." Other genres, because they don't already have a cult following, typically end up considered indie, and big publishing companies don't print them. It's all about profit.

The webcomics that Americans do seem to follow are more often the "funnies" and that might come from the way they use the internet. Most are not on their fur in depth enjoyment. They watch 2 minute videos and YouTube and make quick social posts. So they follow gag-a-days, and they can share them on FaceBook and Twitter with their equally short-attention-span friends.

Despite Hollywood's sad attempts, "funnies" do not make good movies. Superhero comics *can* (and sometimes do.) Unfortunately, only things in print are considered legitimate. My dad, for example, doesn't trust any news he doesn't see on TV or hear on the radio. Somehow being on the internet removes legitimacy.

Ironically, these days it's TV and radio which completely lack legitimacy.

usedbooks
Despite Hollywood's sad attempts, "funnies" do not make good movies. Superhero comics *can* (and sometimes do.)

Well some "funnies" do make good movies. American Splendor was fantastic. I don't know if "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" counts as a comic, but it was a pretty okay movie.

Or comics like Kick-Ass, which made a pretty interesting movie I thought.

I think everyone else kind of summarized it, but yeah.

Most of us dumb old Americans don't really know that webcomics exist, because the common thought among everyone older than twelve is that all comics are automatically kids' stuff. Yes, it's a sad truth, and yes, there are plenty of people who know this is not the real state of things - take a look at some of the bigger comic and manga conventions around the US, you'll see plenty of teens and adults who honestly enjoy it. But those people are viewed as something like "wierdos" for enjoying these sorts of things, instead of brain-dead teenagers crushing on moving statues like all the normal people.
The Internet tends to be used for social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Meebo) and news/gag sites as opposed to other things, like more specific forums or fansites. Webcomics, unfortunately, seem to fall under the latter category.

wasn't scott pilgrim a webcomic at one point in time? i dont remember anymore